iN VIDEO: Police release video in hunt for Kelowna arsonist

KELOWNA – RCMP investigators are hoping someone recognizes the person in a surveillance video who tossed what looks like a molotov cocktail into a car before it burst into flames in Kelowna last month.

In the early morning hours of June 24, Kelowna emergency crews were called to a car fire in the 300 block of Pearson Road and arrived to find the red Mini Cooper engulfed in flames.

At the time, Tanya Garratt said she believed her husband John’s car was targeted because he was a vocal opponent of the McCurdy Road supportive housing complex.

Police have now released surveillance video in which a person can be seen lighting something in their hand on fire and tossing into the parked car through an open door. The suspect takes off on foot as the car bursts into flames.

“Someone in the community must recognize our arson suspect,” Kelowna media relations officer Jesse O’Donaghey says in a media release issued today, July 12. “The suspect, who may be recognizable to someone due to his clothing or stature, seems to carry himself in a unique and distinctive manner as he jogs away from the scene.”

RCMP described the suspect as approximately 6’ tall and heavier set. The person was wearing a light coloured hoodie with the hood up, light coloured pants and a pair of dark running shoes.

Anyone with any additional information is asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300. Or remain completely anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or by leaving a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net.

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